Plinies Nacurall Hiftorie. 



A pound* The occupiers and fhopkcepers call the very fetling and grounds of their ointment and 

 compofitions, by the name of Myrobalanon. 



Moreover, within Arabia there groweth alfb the fwect Calamus ^ which is common to th© 

 Indians and Syrians likewifc. That of Syria pafleih all the reftjand commcth up in a trad of ihac 

 countrcy, diftant from the coaft of our 5ea fiftic Stadia , Betweene mount LrbanoHj and ano- 

 ther mountaine of no account [foritisnot Antilibanonas fome have thought] in a little vale 

 beneath ncarc untoalake, themarfhesandflats>»hereof aredriein Summer for the fpacc of 

 thirtie Stadia, there grow both fweet Calamus^and alfo Squinanth or luncus Odoratus, [/. the 

 Swcet-rufh.] For let us fpcak alfo in this place of the faid Sca;nanth:& although it be but a rufli, 

 and another booke is appointed forthctrcatifeandhiftoricof fuchHearbes^ yet becaufe wee 



B handle the Species that goe to thecompofition of fwect Perfumes,Pomanders^and Oinnnents, 

 I cannot pafle it over; Well then, neither the one nor the other of thefe twaine, differ i n fight 

 from the reft of that kind. But Calamus is the better of the tv\faine, and hathamorepkafanc 

 fmell j for a man miay wind the lent of it preiently a jreat \*ay off: befides,it is fofter in h and : an d 

 better is that which is lefle brittle, and breaketh in long fpils and fhivers, rather than knappcch 

 off like a RadilTiroot. Within the pipe ofthisreed^ there heth a certain matter like unto a Spi- 

 ders wcbjWhich the Apothecaries call the flower ofit: and that Calamusis counted the better, 

 which hath more in it of thefe flowers. There is another marke alfo of good Calamus, namely 

 if it be blacke : and yet in fome place^ they make no reckoning of the blacke Calamus. But in a 

 wordjthe fhorter and thicker that the reed is, the better is the Calamus : and the fame is more 



C fupple and pliable when a man would brcake it. As for Calamus, it is worth eleven deniers the 

 pound ; but Squinanth is fold for fifteenc. Moreover ,{bme fay that there is a fweet rui'h or Squi- 

 nanth found in Campania. And now are wee gone from thofe lands that coaft upon the deepc 

 Ocsan,and come to thofe that eoflfront and lie upon our Mediteranean feas. 



Chap.' xxiit 

 of Hammmmum^andSfagnurfi, 



TO begin widiali ^ in the fands of thofe parts of Affricke which lie under ^Ethiopia, there is 

 a liquor diftilleth, called in Grceke H^xmmonmnm^ of //<^z»l»tf^?, which fignifieth Sand, 

 \J and the Oracle of lupiter Hammon : for neare unto the temple where the faid Oracle retur- 

 neth Anf\vers, there grow ccrtainc trees within the fands, which they call Mctopia/rom which, 

 Hammoniacum droppcth in manner of a rofin or gum : and of it there be two kinds • the one is 

 named Thrauf^on,like unco the male or better Frankinccnfc, and is mofl ettccmed : the other is 

 fat and fuliof rofin, and they call it Phyrama. The manner to fophiflicate Hammoniacum, is 

 with fand, to make men beleeve that it grew among the fands, & gathered it in the growing and 

 commingup : and therefore the go6d Ammoniacum is knownewhcnitis in leafl n)orccls, and 

 thofe very cleare. The price of the befl is after fortie affes the pound. 



Beneath thefe quarters, and within the province Cyrcnaica, there is founda pafling fwect 

 Mofre,called Sphagnos j and of fome Bryon [aromaticum.] Of all fuch Mofles, this is thought 

 E to be the bef^.Next unto it,is that of Cyprus: and in a third ranke,theMofIe which groweth in 

 Phoenicia. There is fuch Mode (by report) in iEgypt,and iikcwifein Fraunce: wheteofj for my 

 * part,! make no doubt ;for they be nothingelfebut the grey and whitifhhaires that we fee hang 

 to trees, and about the oke cfpecially, called commonly MofTe ; but only that thefe be fwect and 

 odoriferous. The chicfepraife isof the whiteftandHghtcff .-afecond commendation belongeth 

 to that which is red ; but the black is worth nothing : neither is there any reckoning made of thac 

 which groweth in Hands and rocks, and (to conclude) all thofe that fineli not as Moflfe fhouid, 

 butrathcrhke to Dates,orthe plants whereof they cope. 



Chap, xxiiii, 



^ ^ of Cjprm^K^f^dathfiSyfmd Manml 



T Here is a tree in iEgypt called Cypros,bearing leaves like toZiziphusot thclnjubc tree, 

 and a grainc refembling Coriander feed, with a white flower very pleafant and fwcet.Thcfe 

 flowersbeflecped and Ibdden in common oile rout of which is afterwards prefledmcdi- 



Kk ij dnablc 



